Last week, Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine released its annual accounting of the best breweries and beers, as voted on by the publication’s deeply knowledgeable readership and editorial staff. If you’re unfamiliar, Craft Beer & Brewing is the rare publication that blends technical rigor with genuine reverence for
There are more than 100 breweries in the Bay Area today. The best estimates indicate that we Bay Area residents collectively spend approximately $1 billion annually on craft beer. Those numbers are staggering enough on their own—but when you add the fact that just four decades ago, only 44
,“Lagers for many craft drinkers are like rediscovering a band you haven’t listened to in a long time. There’s a reason you loved them the first time.” — Phil Emerson, Owner/Brewmaster, Olfactory Brewing Jack’s Abby, a regional lager brewery based in Framingham, MA, sells a shirt in
"We joined the Hasta La Raíz movement because standing up for human dignity is our duty—especially in times of crisis. As one of the only Mexican-owned breweries in the Bay Area, we take pride in our family history and the sacrifices that made our work possible today. We
Two weeks ago, this newsletter explored several contemporary iterations of IPA. Our section on one of the newest variants, the Cold IPA, included this passage: “Where the Hazy IPA smuggled elements of a Bavarian Hefeweizen into the IPA tent—softness, turbidity, expressive yeast—the Cold IPA does the same thing
This past Saturday, the Brewers Association announced the 2025 Great American Beer Festival medal winners, recognizing the very best beers in the United States. The ceremony—held, as always, on the final day of GABF in Denver, CO—capped off three days of festivities celebrating the nation’s brewing community.
The Endless Evolution of IPA: As American IPA splinters into haze, clarity, cold, and more, one question lingers: how many IPAs does a beer scene really need? What does a great beer scene entail? A fair answer might be one where as much of the potential spectrum of beer flavor,
Every third Thursday in November, France, Wales, and wine-enthusiasts worldwide celebrate the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau—a young, fast-fermented Gamay wine bottled just weeks after harvest. It’s a raucous, gourmet get-down built around light, fruity, easy-to-drink wine. Here’s the thing, though: The vins de primeur (first wines) that
Imagine a wedding party so epic that the entire country got invited, and the party raged on for more than 200 years. That is the spirit that breweries, pubs, and communities around the globe are tapping into right now. Oktoberfest traces its origins to October 12, 1810, when Bavaria celebrated
For over forty years, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) has been the premier stage for craft beer in the United States. Each October, a three-day extravaganza unfolds in Denver, CO, now hosting hundreds of breweries and approximately 50,000 guests. The long weekend culminates in an awards ceremony, where
